V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian political thriller film directed by James McTeigue and written by The Wachowskis, based on the 1988 DC/Vertigo Comics limited series of the same name by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The film is set in an alternative future where a Nordic supremacist and neo-fascist regime has subjugated the United Kingdom. Hugo Weaving portrays V, an anarchist freedom fighter who attempts to ignite a revolution through elaborate terrorist acts, and Natalie Portman plays Evey, a young, working-class woman caught up in V's mission, while Stephen Rea portrays the detective leading a desperate quest to stop V. Plot In 2032, the world is in turmoil, with the United States fractured as a result of prolonged second civil war and a pandemic of the "St. Mary's Virus" that ravaged the UK and Europe 14 years prior. The United Kingdom is ruled as a neo-fascist7 police state by the Norsefire Party, under the all-powerful High Chancellor Adam Sutler. On November 4, a vigilante in a Guy Fawkes mask identifying himself as "V" rescues Evey Hammond, an employee of the state-run British Television Network, from members of the "Fingermen" secret police while she is out past curfew. From a rooftop, they watch his demolition of London's main criminal court, the Old Bailey, accompanied by fireworks and the "1812 Overture". Inspector Finch of Scotland Yard is asked to investigate V's activities while BTN declares the incident an "emergency demolition". V interrupts the broadcast to claim responsibility, encouraging the people of Britain to rise up against their government and meet him on next year's Guy Fawkes Night outside the Houses of Parliament. During the broadcast, the police attempt to capture V. Evey helps him escape, but is knocked unconscious. V takes Evey to his home, where she is told she must remain for one year. V then kills Lewis Prothero, Norsefire's chief propagandist, and Anthony Lilliman, the Bishop of London. Evey offers to help, and uses the opportunity to escape to the home of her boss, comedian and talk show host Gordon Deitrich. In return for Evey trusting him with her safety, Gordon reveals prohibited materials, including subversive paintings, an antique Quran, and homoerotic photographs. Meanwhile, V confronts Dr. Delia Surridge, who had experimented on him and many other "undesirables" at Larkhill concentration camp; seeing her remorse for her past actions, he kills her painlessly. After Gordon performs a satire of the government on his show, his home is raided later that night and Evey is captured. She is imprisoned and tortured for information about V, with her only solace being a note written by actress Valerie Page, a former prisoner who was tortured and killed for being lesbian. Evey is told she will be executed unless she reveals V's location. When she says she would rather die, she is inexplicably released, and then finds herself in V's home. It turns out that V was the one who had "captured" her at Gordon's home, and staged her imprisonment and torture to free her from her fears. The note was real, passed from Valerie to V when he was imprisoned. He also informs her that Deitrich had been executed when the Quran was found in his home. While Evey initially hates V for what he did to her, she realises she has become a stronger person. She leaves him, promising to return before November 5. Reading the deceased Surridge's journal, Finch learns V is the result of human experimentation and has been targeting the people who detained him. Despite being stonewalled by the government, Finch searches for the true identity of V, tracing him to a bioweapons program in Larkhill. Finch meets William Rookwood, who tells him that the program, which was directed by Sutler (who was then Undersecretary of Defence), resulted in the creation of the deadly St. Mary's Virus during America's war in the Middle East which grew worse. He further reveals that Creedy, a leader of the Norsefire Party, released the virus onto St Mary's School and a water treatment plant, killing more than 100,000 British residents and framing the outbreak as an attack by a terrorist organisation. The Party, which promised security in times of social instability, used the ensuing wave of fear and chaos to elevate Sutler to the newly created office of High Chancellor and win an overwhelming majority in Parliament, becoming the elected government and taking absolute and total control over the country. Finch later discovers that Rookwood was V in disguise, and though he initially disbelieves the story, his faith in the Norsefire government is severely shaken. As November 5 nears, V distributes thousands of Guy Fawkes masks, and the population questions party rule. The nation slowly descends into anarchy, ignited when one of the Fingermen makes the mistake of shooting and killing a young girl committing vandalism, only to be killed in turn by a mob of enraged citizens. On the eve of November 5, Evey visits V, who shows her an explosive-laden train in the abandoned London Underground, set to destroy Parliament. He leaves it to Evey to decide whether to use it. V meets Party Leader Creedy, with whom he has made a deal to surrender in exchange for Sutler's execution. After Creedy executes Sutler, V reneges on his deal and kills Creedy and his men. Mortally wounded, he returns to Evey and tells her he loves her before dying. As Evey places V's body aboard the train, she is found by Finch. Disillusioned by the Party's regime, Finch allows Evey to send the train off. On the surface, thousands of unarmed Londoners wearing Guy Fawkes masks march towards the Houses of Parliament. Since Creedy and Sutler are both dead, the military receives no orders, and allows the crowd to pass. As Parliament is destroyed, Finch asks Evey for V's identity, to which she replies, "He was all of us." Cast * Hugo Weaving as V * Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond * Stephen Rea as Detective Chief Inspector Eric Finch * John Hurt as High Chancellor Adam Sutler * Stephen Fry as Gordon Deitrich * Sinéad Cusack as Dr. Delia Surridge * John Standing as Bishop Anthony James Lilliman * Tim Pigott-Smith as Peter Creedy * Natasha Wightman as Valerie Page ** Imogen Poots as young Valerie Page * Roger Allam as Lewis Prothero * Ben Miles as Roger Dascomb * Clive Ashborn as Guy Fawkes * Guy Henry as Conrad Heyer * Eddie Marsan as Brian Etheridge Gallery Trivia Category:DC Category:2005